Timeless Serenity V2
by Glacial Obsidian
Summary: Joey gets sick and Seto reluctantly takes care of the mutt until he's better but will he benefit more from this than what he thought? Or will Jou being sick finally give someone else the chance to confess? Fluff thus far. Rated T for now. :O


Hello all my fellow FanFic readers! :3 I'm back! Finally, I've been on a four year hiatus, having disappeared since and undergone highschool. It changes your life unfortunately. Anyway! Please Read and Review! I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of their characters but I do love them and hope to express my discontent that Jou and Seto aren't a really couple through this fanfic! So once more please read and reviewwww! It'll mean a lot to me! :3

/\Chapter 1: Feverish Frenzy/\

The sound of the rain against the pane of his window was soothing, helping to ease the nausea that was building up inside. Katsuya Jonouchi wasn't known for being susceptible to silly like stomach pains, but rather for his strong and overly positive disposition. Also, he was under the impression that he was rather healthy, though perhaps gorging on ramen with Yugi and friends on a weekly basis wasn't exactly the smartest of things.

"Not like it matters…" Jou muttered, breathing heavily as he brought the back of his right hand against his forehead, hoping to ease the churning pain in his stomach. His soft brown eyes swam with tears, though he forced every fiber of his being from going that far as to cry. It was night time now, the day before his first day of Senior Year at school, so hopefully if he called it a night now sleep would fix his problem.

Eagerly the lithe teen removed his street clothes and nuzzled into his bed, content to not have even dealt with that drunkard of a father.

"Oh sweet dreams, please embrace me in a timeless serenity…" Jou muttered quietly into his pillow before his prayer was answered, drifting off into a blissful and painless sleep.

~~~~Early The Next Morning~~~~

"Jonouchi you damn mutt!" A coarse voice barked, followed by what sounded like a stampede of elephants coming up stairs. The door to Jou's room flew open, standing on the other side a man similar in appearance to Jou's, though much more brutish and aggressive looking.

"Wake up you damn dog!" The man hounded, stamping over to the young teen who was jostled roughly from his sleep. Yelping unexpectedly, Jou's dad grasped him by the back of his neck and pulled him from his bed onto the floor.

"Your stupid clock has been going off! Shut it up so I can drink in peace you leech." Mr. Katsuya spat, before turning on heel and slamming the door closed loudly behind him. Jou just gawked, his body shaking from the rough early wake up and interaction with his already intoxicated father. Coughing, Jou shakily righted himself, using his bed as support to stand up.

As his world became visible and less blurry, Jou noticed immediately a strong pain in his stomach; that feeling of nausea. This day was not going so well and it had hardly started. Extending his hand, Jou reached for a towel that was sloppily thrown onto a nearby chair and dabbed it at his face that was doused with sweat. With his father's rude awakening, Jo deduced that this was no time to be lingering, despite the blinking 6:07AM that his alarm clock said.

Jou made no other hesitations, ignoring the wracking pain and dizziness that filled his head. Grabbing his blue uniform, he removed the clothes he was currently wearing and changed into his school attire, a small part of him ecstatic to start the day with his friends. Taking calm and cautious steps, Jou side stepped to face his large mirror. With his uniform on and all the way buttoned, he looked like a typical student, following all the rules; but that wasn't him. Reaching up, trying his hardest to stop from shaking from his heavy breathing and stomach pain, Jou unbuttoned his jacket a little so that the white shirt beneath was exposed. Much better. Set to the side on a nightstand was a black comb, which he reached for and swiftly ran through his blonde hair. Hastily Jou grabbed the backpack on the hook on the back of his door and hesitantly made his way out of his room.

Weariness had already spread throughout his body. His legs felt weak and strained as he slowly made his way down the hall and stairs. This was quite odd, for he couldn't even recall a time in his life where he had felt this terrible before. Now wasn't the time for lingering and contemplating on when he was last this sick, especially with his father storming around the kitchen breaking open cans of beer and downing them like air. Silently he tiptoed to the house door, quickly slipping into his shoes before grasping the brass knob. With as much care as he could, Jou turned the knob slowly to his right, listening for the quick squeak that signaled the door was open. With the sound of the click, Jo pushed the door open and eagerly made it outside, confronted with the bright rays of the morning sun.

'Hopefully this pain will go away by the time I arrive at school…and my damn dad will be passed out on the couch when I come home.' He thought to himself, walking ever so slowly towards Domino High which was a good 3-4 miles from his house. This early, now 6:15am, there were next to no cars on the road, save the few drunks who aimlessly drove throughout the night until dawn.

'Drunkards…' Jou thought angrily, glaring at the back of the cars with the intoxicated drivers and passengers with disgust. One car drove by and erratically swerved, chucking in the process a half full bottle of beer out the window, which shattered on impact of course. Not only were they bad drivers, but they littered too. Laughing silently to himself about hoping for their ultimate demise, Jou decided to muse on other things, like this pain.

"Hey boy! You, pretty little man! Come here!" A driver jested as he slowed down to a speed similar in Jou's walking pace. The young teen looked over, shooting the drunk a look of disgust.

"Whaddya want?" Jou snapped, switching his gaze back and forth between the sidewalk in front of him and the driver to his right. This response wasn't met with content by the driver and he reached out his window and grabbed the strap of Jou's backpack, yanking him closer to the vehicle.

"Boy! Don't you give me attitude! I was gonna offer ya some cash but now I shouldn't even do that!" The drunk man barked. Jou looked back, not a single expression on his face. Reeling back his right arm, Jou released his fist into the man's face, who only howled in pain as he let go to tend to his injury. With the opportunity Jou ran, ignoring his stomach that begged him to stop. Living in this neck of Japan made everyone who walked its streets reliant on themselves for survival, although it was probably also because of the time frame that Jou was dealing with such bad luck.

'Stop running!' Jou thought to himself loudly, not even realizing how long he had been running for. Like some kind of manga though, Jou thought to soon, running smack dab into an unsuspecting civilian. The impact sent the young teen to the ground. Disoriented, Jou slowly tried to make sense of what had happened, and thinking in the process how to appropriately apologize for whoever he had hit.

"Jou!" An enthusiastic voice rang, all too familiar to him too. As Jou's vision became less blurred, he recognized the face of the civilian he had hit, who was knelt before him with his hand extended. Honda. An overwhelming joy filled the young teen and he threw himself into his friends open and unsuspecting chest. His friend eagerly returned the enthusiasm, embracing him and helping him to his feet.

"A rough day?" Honda inquired as he helped Jou. The blond nodded silently, forcing a weak smile. "Well, I'd figure I'd let you know that you ran in the wrong direction. School's the other way." Dumfounded, Jou's jaw dropped a little.

"Ahaha! Well your lucky then that I made a stop to get some food then!" Honda said. Jou huffed and swayed slightly as he stepped back to put better emphasize on his shock.

"I guess running in the opposite direction is sumthing I'd do," Jou teased himself. " I musta taken a wrong turn. Well, I better be off otherwise my sorry butt will be late. " Jou grinned, trying to hide his swelling pain. Honda simply laughed as his friend finished his sentence and enthusiastically slapped him on the shoulder, sending him stumbling a few feet.

"Well in the direction you just went, school's a good 20 minute walk! It's 6:45AM now so I'll give you a ride there on my bike!" Honda stepped back a little and what was revealed to him was Honda's pride and joy; his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in a sleek royal blue. Once more Jou gawked, for not many were graced with riding on Honda's baby. He wasn't going to interrogate his friend about it though and when he was handed the spare helmet, only nodded and placed it on his head.

Honda laughed, giving Jou a thumbs up before swinging his leg over the bike. Throwing on his own helmet, Tristan reached for the throttle and revved up the bike, the machine purring to life. Laughing silently, Jou mounted the bike, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend's waist. Honda emitted a small noise that Jou couldn't distinguish, but he could tell by his friends body movements, such as his breathe hitching that he was either embarrassed by the action or wasn't expecting it. Either way, Honda placed his free hand on Jou's and motioned for him to lean into him. Using the support of his leg, Honda pushed the bike upright and snapped the kickstand back in a swift motion before the bike cruised away from the curb.

~~ At School ~~~

Honda came to a slow halt, feeling the heavy breathing of his friend against his back. Without trying to move to much, Honda looked over his shoulder, realizing that Jou had drifted off into sleep during the ride. Gulping, Honda looked forward, not realizing that his cheeks were beginning to turn a rosy red. 'Jou's just a friend and that's all…nothing else. I can't set my hopes up high…ever.' Honda thought, gently removing Jou's arms from around his waist. The motion elicited a twitch from Jou as he slipped from his dream world.

"Oy, only you'd be able to fall asleep on a bike!" Honda teased as Jou came around to reality. Grumbling quietly, Jou pinched his friends side lightly, causing his friend to howl unexpectedly.

"Hey hey just because I'm sleepy," Jou said, somewhat muffled as he removed Honda's spare helmet, "don't mean you can tease me about it."

Honda laughed heartily before putting the kickstand down and getting off the bike. Jou followed in suit, though he stumbled uneasily as his feet were planted on the ground. On instinct Honda hastily reached forward, catching his friend as he righted himself. Something wasn't right. Jou breathed heavily and swatted at Honda mockingly.

"I ain't gonna fall! I'm just sleepy and not used to walking- I mean, ugh," Jou rolled his eyes, obviously not even able to properly talk while sick either. Honda looked at Jou unsure, confused as to why his friend would hide something from him.

"Look, if something's up Jou, just talk to me. I'm here for you. So is Yugi and Anzu! Oh speaking of those two, classes going to be starting in about 10 minutes so you go on in. I gotta park my bike in the school lot then I'll join you guys." With that said, Honda turned away from Jou and mounted his bike, before slowly riding off around the corner to the student lot.

Nodding as his friend left, Jou turned to face the looming school entrance, bursting at the seams with students going in and out. Making his way through the crowd, Jou headed downstairs to where his homeroom class was, but with each step his vision seemed to become less and less clear. That pain seemed to grow as well, from something that was at one point tolerable to a pain that he associated closely with dying.

"I'm not…going…to make itt…" Jou mouthed, before extending his hand to a shadowy figure before him. With whatever energy he could muster, Jou took one final step before the pain and his pounding headache overwhelmed him, slipping into the sweet embrace of passing out.

~~~~ Switchie to Seto!~~~~~

Seto was a very punctual and organized person, though it probably came with running Kaiba Corp. Striding coolly down Domino's halls, Seto dodged downstairs to one of the lower levels, hoping to outsmart the students who were littering the upper hallways. By taking this route he was hoping to not be intercepted by the traffic and still make it to his class on time, with time still to actually spare. The detour definitely did its job, but that didn't stop the lower classmen girl's from following him and squealing loudly behind him. His face showed that of disgust, but they kept their distance, a good 20ft, which he was atleast grateful for. For the first time this whole highschool experience, Seto found himself in the same class as Yugi and his other little lapdog friends.

Speaking of lapdog friends, he had seen only three of the annoying four, though not seeing the fourth one was a relief. That damn Jou seemed to be the most irritating out of the bunch, with a loud voice that was so easily distinguishable and a nasty habit of always picking a fight with him wherever he was. Whatever Jou was able to fuel this deep rooted hate from astounded Seto, especially after everything that they went through, even with those silly tournaments. Card gaming was behind them now; at least for saving loved ones and saving the world. They had all exerted much of their youth with trying to right wrongs and now it was time to just be normal students, with a very hearty experience in card dueling.

Slowing down, Seto sighed. If only…

Thump.

The sound of a body falling and hitting the ground loudly behind him startled the normally poised male. Pivoting quickly to see what had happened, Seto's eyes widened as he recognizing the silky smooth blond locks and face. Upon acknowledging the body's as the same person he was only thinking of minutes ago as loud and annoying, Seto was unsure of what to do…until he noticed the heavy breathing and lack of movement otherwise. Sweat covered the blond's delicate features and he elicited a painful moan, signaling that something was definitely wrong. Feelings of sympathy washed over Seto, but he fought to express any sort of kindness…No one else was doing anything about it though, just staring and pointing.

Growling, definitely annoyed, Seto moved closer to the blond and softly rolled him onto his back. Propping the blond up, Seto swept the blond locks from Jou's brow, placing the back of his hand to his forehead. Scorching hot was all Seto could describe the mutt's temperature as. Immediately Seto withdrew his hand, his eyes wide with fear and concern suddenly. He didn't like Yugi and his friends, but he wasn't in a position to ignore someone who was in dire medical need, regardless of past history.

Slipping his other arm behind Jou's legs, Seto hoisted himself and Jou up off the ground, even more surprised by how light the boy was. Turning, Seto walked in haste, anxious to get the sick teen to the nurses office to where he could hopefully by attended too. Thoughts of dropping the mutt plagued his mind, fervently angry at how much he obviously cared about the mutt's well being. His face softened, realizing as he looked down at the distraught looking teen how beautiful he really was. Before he had never had the opportunity to admire his well sculpted face and his soft looking lips…

Shaking his head, Seto cussed quietly, annoyed that now he even felt a growing attraction for the mutt. Though it wasn't exactly something he could deny, for he had always known that Jou had this air about him that made the reserved male attracted to him, though he hoped no one nor Jou himself knew it.

Whimpering, Jou arched a little in Seto's arms, pressing himself closer to the warmth of the other males body. The motion must've woken the blond up for one second Seto felt the weight of the male in his arms and the next he felt a sharp thrust against his chest and then nothing in his arms. Another loud thud sounded and Seto quickly attempted to make sense as he stumbled backwards.

"What're you think…you're do-" Frantic, Jou had pushed himself from Seto's arms and landed painfully once more on the ground. Grimacing, Jou attempted to prop himself up but the motion sent him into an intense coughing frenzy. Shocked, Seto stepped forward and stared at Jou, unsure of what to do before his cold demeanor took over once more.

"What am I doing!? Taking you to the nurses office before you contaminate the school with whatever you've got! Why'd the hell you even attend school if your this sick!?" Seto retorted angrily. Instead of getting a response from Jou though, the young boy only flinched as Seto yelled. Seto noted this and stopped, overwhelmed with a torrent of emotions.

"I can't sa…say…what I did is smart but…bu-but…my dad…it'd be wo-worse if I stay-stayed home." Jou stuttered, shakily pressing his hands against the ground as he attempted to prop himself up. Struggling, Jou only looked up at Seto, his eyes almost hollow looking, though Seto could see the tears that fought to stream down his face. Kneeling down, Seto extended his hand to Jou, who only swatted it away.

"I don-don't need help." Jou lashed out with as much anger as he could. Gasping, he slowly edged over to the wall close to him, using it as a support to help right himself. Seto glared, but stood up, looking the shaky blond up and down. He was in no position to care for himself that was for sure and he doubted he'd be able to move from the wall.

"Let me help." Seto demanded, once more extending his hand. Jou glared and attempted to swat away his hand, but only ended up stumbling forward. Lunging forward, Seto caught the blond as he almost dropped like a rock to the floor again. Silently Seto teased that brain damage and a concussion would probably be the end of Jou before this sickness got to him. Jou wasn't out yet and struggled uselessly against Seto's arms.

"Just, relax." Seto urged, before sweeping the blond off his feet once more. Jou voiced a sound of discontent but seemed to cease fighting. Instead Jou slowly found himself slipping back into his dark dream world once more.


End file.
